


timekeeper

by platonics



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, First Meetings, Iruma Miu Being Iruma Miu, Libraries, POV Multiple, Pre-Relationship, Soulmate-Identifying Timers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 09:31:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21177215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/platonics/pseuds/platonics
Summary: “Oh, I see. Grumpy ‘cause you can’t find your soulmate, aren’t you?”In a world of counting down to the most important moment of your life, a broken timer can make finding love feel impossible. It turns out it's not always so easy for everyone else either.





	timekeeper

Science had long struggled to explain the soulmate phenomenon. The mystery of timers appearing on people’s skin from birth, with no biological explanation whatsoever. The concept of having a fated partner naturally sparked strong emotions on all sides of the debate, even inspiring religious followings. For generations, many believed it was wrong to try to find a scientific explanation at all. It was a matter of faith, of destiny. Beyond humanity’s capability to understand. Trying to craft any other theory was hubris.

When public opinion finally started to change, it was slowly. One step forward, two steps back. Not that answers would be easy to find even if everyone was supportive. If timers had an obvious cause, it would have been discovered already. There were still so many mysteries.

One of those mysteries was why timers broke. In rare cases, trauma to the arm someone’s timer was on could cause it to freeze. It was almost indistinguishable from what occurred when a soulmate died. The only difference was that the numbers didn’t fade to the pale gray of death. They were just as stark as ever, unmoving. One thing the scientific community could say for certain was that a stopped timer would never restart. 

It was a problem Kaede Akamatsu was all too familiar with.

She was a young child when she broke her arm, with no reason to believe it would be anything but a temporary setback. But at some point, hidden underneath a bright pink cast, her timer stopped ticking, forever stopped with over ten years left on the clock. 

* * *

“You’ll find them somehow, I’m sure of it. If nothing else, they’ll probably say something to you when they realize, right?” Shuichi’s earnest, gentle eyes seemed to be staring directly into her heart. Forcing a smile, Kaede nodded.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I guess I’ve just been a little worried about it lately, since it’s supposed to be this year...” Compared to some people with abnormal or broken timers, she was lucky enough to know the rough time period at least, just not a specific day. “And hey, if nothing else, I can be here to cheer you on, Shuichi.” 

Shuichi’s time was rapidly approaching too. They’d befriended each other in high school, bonding over their status as soulmate outcasts. Rather than having a frozen timer like Kaede, or none at all like some people, he had two timers, only a few days apart. It was a little amusing to think someone as timid and unassuming as Shuichi was one of the rare individuals to have more than one soulmate, but she was sure everything would turn out great for him. And if it didn’t, well, those mystery soulmates would have her to answer to.

“Thanks,” he murmured, ducking his head down in embarrassment. “And I’ll try to step up my investigation for you. There’s got to be someone in a similar situation who could give you some advice, at the very least.”

The library was buzzing with activity, gaggles of students hunched over books and computers or simply chatting with one another. If you looked carefully, you could even spot a few people napping here and there. The strain of midterm exams was painfully obvious. Personally, Kaede wasn’t too worried about her tests. She was one of the highest-scoring music majors the school had. Her impending soulmate meeting (or not) was far more stressful. 

Lost in thought, she found her eyes wandering as Shuichi turned his attention to his laptop. A glimpse of hot pink caught her eye, and she looked closer, curious about who would wear such a blindingly bright outfit. A very eccentric-looking girl, it turned out. Pretty, too. For a few moments, Kaede just looked at her, able to hear her laughter from all the way across the room. The stranger was leaning against a bookcase, a couple of textbooks in one arm, and was laughing uproariously about whatever the boy next to her just said. Her blonde hair practically glowed in the light, like the stereotypical image of an angel, but the mischievous expression on her face was anything but angelic.

Operating on pure instinct, Kaede got up from the table, smoothing out her skirt.

“I’ll be right back, okay?” She rested a hand against Shuichi’s arm for a moment, and then set off towards the stacks, trying to seem casual.

* * *

“You gonna take a book or just stand there staring? C’mon, I know I’m hot, but you’re ruining the view.” Kaede startled, blinking incredulously at the other girl. Sure, maybe she zoned out for a second trying to decide whether to strike up a conversation, but that comment was uncalled for. Not what she expected at all. She grabbed a random book off the shelf, face hot with annoyance.

“Hey, what makes you think you can talk to people that way? There’s no reason you should be loitering here anyway, so just go somewhere else if you don’t like it.” Too caught up in telling her off, she didn’t notice that her sleeve had ridden up slightly, exposing the timer on her wrist.

“Why so angry?” the girl whined, belligerent attitude crumbling in seconds. “What did I do?” She crossed her arms, giving Kaede what appeared to be her best attempt at puppy-dog eyes, but then her gaze dropped to her wrist. “_Oh_, I see. Grumpy ‘cause you can’t find your soulmate, aren’t you?”

“That’s none of your business!” Kaede yanked her sleeve back down, her own eyes instinctively going to the stranger’s wrist. No luck, though. She was wearing fingerless gloves. “Seriously, who do you think you are?”

The girl scoffed, tossing her hair over a shoulder and leaning closer in a gesture that was probably supposed to be seductive. Looking around to see if anyone else was witnessing this, Kaede spotted the odd, robotic boy she noticed earlier. He rolled his eyes and looked away. Secondhand embarrassment. She could understand why.

“Only the gorgeous girl genius who can solve all your problems. Miu Iruma, the best inventor this city has to offer. I could fix that thing no problem, but you’re gonna have to get down on your knees and beg. I don’t do charity work.” Blue eyes met violet, and Miu raised an eyebrow. Was she actually expecting her to _beg_? When she hadn’t even asked for help in the first place?

“What? No. I don’t want your help anyway; you could be making the whole thing up. And besides, who says I’m trying to find my soulmate? Maybe I already have.”

“You haven’t. I can tell. You’re a total fuckin’ virgin.”

“Those two things aren’t even...Ugh, whatever. I have to go,” she said, too flustered to even consider continuing this conversation. “So you can get back to enjoying your view.”

“Sure, sure. Wait just a second though, virgin.” Miu nodded, then turned towards her companion. “Hey, Kiibo, give me a pen.” She reached out expectantly, and Kiibo sighed, fishing a pen out of his backpack and tossing it to her. 

“If you ever change your mind and decide you wanna get to groveling...” She grabbed Kaede’s hand, jotting a phone number on her palm. “Here’s my number.”

* * *

“What are you going to do now?” Kiibo asked once Kaede was out of earshot. He raised an eyebrow, giving Miu a knowing look. “I...don’t think that was the best way to deal with the situation.”

“Are you seriously doubting my ability to win over a girl? Please. Anyone in their right mind would be swooning all over at the thought of being my soulmate.” Despite her confident words, her lower lip quivered slightly. She was nervous. Making sure nobody else was around to see, she peeled off one of her gloves and rolled up her sleeve, just to be sure. As expected, her timer had zeroed out. 

“Do you even know her name?” Sometimes she really regretted befriending Kiibo. Miu groaned and shook her head, putting her glove back on.

“You could at least _try_ to be supportive, you know.”

“And you could have tried to be nicer. You knew you were going to meet your soulmate any minute, after all.” He shrugged. When had he gotten so much more assertive? Must be her influence, Miu decided. Sure, she didn’t build him herself, but she still deserved some of the credit for how he turned out. 

“I wasn’t expecting her timer to be broken! It...it threw me off,” she complained, playing with her hair. “Now either suggest something good or shut up and let me think.”

“I think her name is Kaede Akamatsu,” he replied, peering around the corner of the bookcase to see where her soulmate had gone. “I know the friend she’s sitting with, Shuichi. He mentions a pianist friend sometimes, and I think that’s her.”

“Okay, so I have a way to find her. That means all I need to do is invent something that’ll tell her I’m her soulmate. Get it to her, and she’ll be _begging_ to go out with me. Easy. I could get it done by tomorrow if I wanted to.” Ideas were already racing through her head. She didn’t need a soulmate to find someone to date or have some fun with, but...the possibility of having someone she could trust to stick around and really put in an effort? That was someone she had to at least get to know. 

“Come on, let’s get out of here. I need to get to work.” Grabbing Kiibo’s hand, she practically dragged him out of the library.

* * *

“Huh. I wonder what’s up with her?” A perplexed expression on his face, Shuichi gestured towards Miu and Kiibo hurrying towards the elevators.

Kaede shrugged, frowning. “No idea.”


End file.
